Good or Better Choices?

Luke‬ ‭16:19-31‬ - There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. 

But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 

So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to  Abraham’s bosom. 

The rich man also died and was buried. And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. Then he cried and said, "Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame." 

But Abraham said, "Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things [hardships]; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us." 

Then he said, "I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment." 

Abraham said to him, "They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them." 

And he said, "No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent." 

But he said to him, "If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead."

These verses show the difference between heaven and hell. They also prove the lie that ALL people go to heaven when they die. Again, if that were true then it was yet another lie that Jesus died on the cross for no reason at all, that by our "works" or our status, our perceived goodness, we could enter. He died for all mankind, but only those who look to and trust in Him will be forgiven. 

We choose in this lifetime whom we will follow. Have we heard about the commandments, heard the Gospel that Jesus proclaimed, humbled ourselves before Him? Have we made a decision to believe? Do we follow, obey and trust in Jesus Christ or man...or self? The time to choose is now. If someone would die within the next few minutes without Christ, he/she could be in the same predicament as the rich man above. 

Interesting, that last sentence. If they did not listen to God through His Laws that had been given to them for life and to worship God, nor the prophets, there was no way they would be persuaded if they saw one rise from the dead. Sounds like a prediction to occur later, that Jesus would come once again to proclaim His message of life and His resurrection! Still many would not/do not believe. 

What will it take anyone to believe that heaven and hell are real and not to be taken lightly? It's exactly why Jesus calls us...that none would perish. 

Are the good things of life we can put in our hands and handle and delight in today more important than the better things of eternity? It's a choice we make. I leave you with that thought.

Romans 8:2-5 - There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.